If you read the headline, you figured that that has to be made up. According to Yahoo Sports, nope. There is a chance Noah Juulsen could be a fit. As a Flyers fan, you may be baffled as to why a team would want the sparsely played seventh defender. There are actually some fairly legit reasons why.
The Sabres, as we know, are one of the teams inquiring about Rasmus Ristolainen. It makes sense. Despite his lengthy injury history and the fact that he has never lived up to these big, bruising, yet offensively gifted projections, there are things about Ristolainen that make him desirable.Â
First, he's a right-handed defender, which is very highly desired. They can defend the boards a little better and defend the rush while having the ability to protect their shots. This is why you see a rush for righty defenders this time every season. Ristolainen is one of them.Â
However, with Ristolainen and the Sabres, there are a few snags. The Flyers don't necessarily need to trade him. The other one is that several other teams may want him. That can drive up the price. That means another team can pay a higher price than what Buffalo is willing to pay, or it means nobody is paying the price that Daniel Briere wants in return.
Enter Juulsen. He is Buffalo's plan B....or C, D, or even E. When the Flyers signed him, they knew what they were getting. Juulsen is not a game-changer in any sense of the word. He is neither outstanding nor flashy. He came here because he had ties to Rick Tocchet, and it was expected that he could be a good mentor to the many younger defenders in attempting to learn Tocchet's system and coaching style. In that respect, Juulsen has been a decent acquisition.Â
As some of the younger players, like Emil Andrae and Egor Zamula, struggled this season, Juulsen has received more playing time. In 43 games, he's scored one goal with eight assists. His nine points are a career high for the 28 year old right handed defender. And while averaging just under 14 minutes of ice time a game, he is still a plus-2 defender in a bottom pairing role. That's respectable.
So while he isn't a game-changer, for a team that is looking for cheap veteran depth at the trade deadline, Juulsen could be desired. If Buffalo strikes out on Ristolainen or other defenders, they could fall back on Juulsen, should the Flyers be so inclined to move him. A bottom-level pick (like a 6th or 7th rounder) should be enough to pry him out of Philly. It's not a lot, but it's more than what the Flyers will get if they let him walk as a free agent come July. Who knows, he could even re-sign here in the offseason again, too.